Prophets and Kings (1917) Version 111 by Ellen G. White

Author:Ellen G. White [White, Ellen G.]
Language: fra
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Section IV – National

Retribution

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“I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.”

Jeremiah 30:11

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Chap. 32 - Manasseh and Josiah

The kingdom of Judah, prosperous throughout the times of Hezekiah, was once more brought low during the long years of Manasseh’s wicked reign, when paganism was revived, and many of the people were led into idolatry. “Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err, and to do worse than the heathen.” 2 Chronicles 33:9. The glorious light of former generations was followed by the darkness of superstition and error. Gross evils sprang up and flourished—tyranny, oppression, hatred of all that is good. Justice was perverted; violence prevailed.

Yet those evil times were not without witnesses for God and the right. The trying experiences through which Judah had safely passed during Hezekiah’s reign had developed, in the hearts of many, a sturdiness of character that now served as a bulwark against the prevailing iniquity. Their testimony in behalf of truth and righteousness aroused the anger of Manasseh and his associates in authority, who

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endeavored to establish themselves in evil-doing by silencing every voice of disapproval.

“Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another.” 2 Kings 21:16.

One of the first to fall was Isaiah, who for over half a century had stood before Judah as the appointed messenger of Jehovah. “Others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth.” Hebrews 11:36-38.

Some of those who suffered persecution during Manasseh’s reign were commissioned to bear special messages of reproof and of judgment. The king of Judah, the prophets declared, “hath done wickedly above all ... which were before him.” Because of this wickedness, his kingdom was nearing a crisis; soon the inhabitants of the land were to be carried captive to Babylon, there to become

“a prey and a spoil to all their enemies.” 2 Kings 21:11, 14. But the Lord would not utterly forsake those who in a strange land should acknowledge him as their Ruler; they might suffer great tribulation, yet He would bring deliverance to them in his appointed time and way. Those who should put their trust wholly in him would find a sure refuge.

Faithfully the prophets continued their warnings and their exhortations; fearlessly they spoke to Manasseh and

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to his people; but the messages were scorned; backsliding Judah would not heed.

As an earnest of what would befall the people should they continue impenitent, the Lord permitted their king to be captured by a band of Assyrian soldiers, who

“bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon,” their temporary capital.

This affliction brought the king to his senses; “he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his

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